NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPITON: The goal of the 2014 Professional Development Workshop in Ceramics is to enhance the career development of the next generation of future leaders in ceramic materials research and education. Three early-career faculty who have recently been awarded NSF CAREER grants from the Ceramics Program in the Division of Materials Research are the focus of the workshop activities. The main activity is an intensive two-day workshop that brings together three CAREER awardees with a group of eight to ten colleagues and peers, including recognized experts in their research areas, leaders from their chosen technical and professional societies, and international researchers with relevant experience in a forum that promote professional discussions, mentoring and networking activities. The unique exchange and interactions between all participants will impact the early-career faculty's respective fields of research, exchange of best practices for training and teaching, as well as the forging of new collaborative research opportunities. These outcomes should provide a strong base of support that helps the CAREER awardees succeed in becoming outstanding researchers and educators in their chosen fields. The workshop is also open to other early-career faculty who are eligible to apply for CAREER grants, but have not yet applied or been successful with their proposals, as well as interested post-doctoral associates and faculty members.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: The 2014 Professional Development Workshop in Ceramics focuses on three technical topics to be presented by each early-career faculty: 1) Quantification of the properties of individual heterojunction nanowires and their performance as photocatalysts. 2) Examination of the role of elasticity in strengthening glasses by in situ light scattering, and 3) Optimization and nano- engineering of the energy interconversion properties of oxide thermoelectric materials. The respective early-career faculty and the technical experts in their field of ceramic materials research are leading the scientific discussions for the purpose of critically evaluating research plans, career development, and education efforts.
